Beaconing in Small Wavelength Wireless Networks

1. An apparatus for wireless communication in a network, the apparatus comprising: (a) a wireless communication circuit configured as a station, operating under an IEEE 802.11 protocol, for wirelessly communicating with other wireless communication stations on the network which are operating under the IEEE 802.11 protocol and utilizing directional transmission having a plurality of antenna pattern sectors each having different transmission directions; (b) a processor coupled to said wireless communication circuit; and (c) a non-transitory memory storing instructions executable by the processor; (d) wherein said instructions, when executed by the processor, perform steps of a communications protocol toward setting up and maintaining a communications topology with reduced signaling overhead and delay, comprising: (i) utilizing two different types of beacons (frames), (A) a network maintenance beacon, and (B) a discovery beacon, wherein dividing up the discovery functions and network maintenance function reduces signal overhead and delays; (ii) wherein when the station is operating on the network as a beacon master (BM), or temporary BM, then it controls the sending of discovery beacons, detecting a new station or a connection attempt by a new station which is using either passive or active scanning, and assigning a station which is closer to the new station to be a new BM to enable efficient discovery of the new station; (iii) responding to receipt of said discovery beacons when operating as the new station by connecting to one or more stations that transmitted discovery beacons to this new station; (iv) transmitting network maintenance beacons independently of said discovery beacons, wherein said network maintenance beacons are only transmitted in the direction of known neighbor stations; and (v) wherein said detecting that a new station is trying to connect to the network comprises receiving a signal from said new station of its intent to join the network, and instructions when executed by the processor further performs steps comprising transmitting a subset of information received from the new station sending said signal notifying its intent to join the network to a scheduling entity as either said BM, or a central entity of the network, wherein said scheduling entity collects information from stations in the network, determines the transmission time and at least one transmitting station to generate said discovery beacon, and transmits notifications to these stations of transmission time for said discovery beacon.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said directional transmission aids scanning for network discovery, and for maintenance of links using beacons among neighboring stations under the IEEE 802.11 protocol in said network.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said instructions when executed by the processor perform transmitting of each of said beacons to a reduced number of antenna sector directions, from said plurality of antenna pattern sectors, so that said beacons are only transmitted in the direction of known stations operating under the IEEE 802.11 protocol.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said discovery beacons used for discovery comprise: discovery beacons, beamforming frames, network announcement frames, or beacon frames.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said instructions when executed by the processor when operating as a new station attempting to join the network, further perform steps comprising searching for an available network nearby utilizing either active scanning or passive scanning, and transmitting a probe request or a signal to notify the intent of joining said network.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said station operating as the BM is configured for triggering transmission of discovery beacons as used for discovery, and the BM is selected for at least a period of time to transmit discovery beacons.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said instructions when executed by the processor further perform steps comprising transmitting discovery beacons in response to instructions to transmit discovery beacons at said transmission time as received from said scheduling entity as either said BM or said central entity of the network.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said instructions when executed by the processor further perform steps comprising collecting information, about a station newly joining the network, from its neighboring stations operating under the same protocol when determining timing of transmission of discovery beacons and transmitting discovery beacons at the determined timing.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said instructions when executed by the processor further perform steps comprising coordinating transmission of network announcements between stations in said network, by the station operating on the network as the BM transmitting said discovery beacons in all directions for receipt by a new node during a data transmission period to assist in neighbor discovery.

10. An apparatus for wireless communication in a network, the apparatus comprising: (a) a wireless communication circuit configured as a station, operating under an IEEE 802.11 protocol, for wirelessly communicating with other wireless communication stations on the network which are operating under the IEEE 802.11 protocol and utilizing directional transmission having a plurality of antenna pattern sectors each having different transmission directions; (b) wherein said directional transmission aids scanning for network discovery and maintenance of links among stations, operating under the same protocol, in said network; (c) a processor coupled to said wireless communication circuit; and (d) a non-transitory memory storing instructions executable by the processor; (e) wherein said instructions, when executed by the processor, perform steps of a communications protocol toward setting up and maintaining a communications topology with reduced signaling overhead and delay, comprising: (i) utilizing two different types of beacons (frames), (A) a network maintenance beacon, and (B) a discovery beacon, wherein dividing up the discovery functions and network maintenance function reduces signal overhead and delays; (ii) operating as a station configured for being connected to a wireless network having a number of neighboring stations, comprising steps: (A) wherein when the station is operating on the network as a beacon master (BM), or temporary BM, then it controls the sending of discovery beacons, detecting a new station or a connection attempt by a new station which is using either passive or active scanning, and assigning a station which is closer to the new station to be a new BM to enable efficient discovery of the new station; and (B) transmitting network maintenance beacons independently of said frames or beacons used for discovery, wherein said beacons are only transmitted in the direction of known neighbor stations; (C) wherein said discovery beacons used for discovery comprise: discovery beacons, beamforming frames, network announcement frames, or beacon frames; (iii) operating as a new station trying to connect to the network in responding to receipt of said discovery beacons at the new station by connecting to one or more stations that transmitted discovery frames to this new station; and (iv) wherein said detecting that a new station is trying to connect to the network comprises receiving a signal from said new station of its intent to join the network, and instructions when executed by the processor further performs steps comprising transmitting a subset of information received from the new station sending said signal notifying its intent to join the network to a scheduling entity as either said BM, or a said central entity of the network, wherein said scheduling entity collects information from stations in the network, determines the transmission time and at least one transmitting station to generate said discovery beacon, and transmits notifications to these stations of transmission time for said discovery beacon.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said instructions when executed by the processor when operating as the new station attempting to join the network, further perform steps comprising searching for an available network nearby utilizing either active scanning or passive scanning, and responding by transmitting a probe request or a signal to notify the intent of joining said network.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said station triggering transmission of discovery beacons as used for discovery is operating as the BM selected for at least a period of time to transmit discovery beacons.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said instructions when executed by the processor further perform steps comprising transmitting discovery beacons in response to instructions to transmit discovery beacons at said transmission time as received from said scheduling entity as either said BM or the central entity of the network.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said instructions when executed by the processor further perform steps comprising collecting information about a station newly joining the mesh network from its neighboring stations operating under the same protocol when determining timing of transmission of discovery beacons, and transmitting discovery beacons at the determined timing.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said discovery beacons used for discovery comprise: discovery beacons, beamforming frames, network announcement frames, or beacon frames.